On Oct. 21, 1972, Congress enacted the
Marine Mammal Protection Act. It
established a federal responsibility to
conserve marine mammals, with the
Department of the Interior responsible
for sea otters, walruses, polar bears,
dugongs and manatees and the
Department of Commerce responsible
for cetaceans and non-walrus pinnipeds.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration cooperate to recover
species; the Service protects all marine
mammals within refuge boundaries. The
articles on this page and opposite look
at the roles Crystal River and Farallon
National Wildlife Refuges play in
marine mammal conservation.

By Heather Dewar

Forty years after enactment of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, manatee
recovery at and near Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida
seems headed in the right direction, says refuge manager Michael Lusk.
Credit: Carol Grant

Imagine a national wildlife refuge
where several hundred endangered
animals seek winter warmth in a
two-acre spaceand 150,000 people per
year join them.

Thats the situation at Crystal River
National Wildlife Refuge, a haven for
endangered manatees amid suburban
development on Floridas Gulf Coast. The
refuge, home to the worlds largest
natural winter concentration of manatees,
is the only place in the United States
where tourists literally immerse
themselves in the habitat of wild,
endangered marine mammals.

Thats unparalleled, says Dawn
Jennings, deputy field supervisor for the
Services North Florida Ecological
Services Office in Jacksonville. People
who go there and see manatees in their
natural setting are conservation
advocates for life.

When the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA) took effect in 1972, the
Florida manatee population was 800 to
1,200. In 1983, the Service established
Crystal River Refuge to conserve some of
the 70 warm springs in Kings Bay, a
residential area where manatees gather
in winter for protection from potentially
lethal cold water. The Service also
manages seven manatee sanctuaries,
mostly outside
refuge boundaries,
where humans are
barred from
waterborne
activities Nov. 15 to
March 31.

Federal and state
protections are
working. A 2010
winter survey
counted 5,000
manatees in
Florida waters,
including 567 at
Crystal River
Refuge. The rising
population is a sign
that we are
headed in the right
direction, says
refuge manager
Michael Lusk.

Kings Bay
supports a thriving
ecotourism
industry, with 36
tour operators
bringing swimmers to manatee areas. In
2010, outfitters reported 93,700 visitors,
90 percent of whom got into the water
with manatees, says Ivan Vicente, the
refuges visitor services specialist. Thats
a boon for the economy, but a challenge
for managers, who must protect the
gentle mammals from harassment.

Its a place where we manage people
more than we manage wildlife, says
deputy refuge manager Boyd Blihovde.

The terms of some refuge land purchases
forbid excluding people, who arent
always respectful. After activists posted
YouTube videos of swimmers poking,
encircling and riding manatees, a federal
advisory commission set up under the
MMPA recommended strict limits for
boating and swimming with manatees in
Kings Bay. The North Florida Ecological
Services Office, which is responsible for
manatee recovery, followed up with a rule
that took effect last March.

The rule, which is less stringent than
recommended by the commission, makes
Kings Bay a slow boat speed zone, except
for one area where speeds of 25 mph are
allowed June 1 through Aug. 15. The rule
enables the Service to create temporary
no-entry areas for swimmers and boaters.
It also definesand forbidsmanatee
harassment.

Tour operators must show customers a
Manatee Manners video. Refuge
volunteers in kayaks watch swimmers,
and boat captains are supervising their
guests more closely, Vicente says.

Because of the MMPA, these measures
will stand even if manatees are eventually
de-listed as endangered species. The
manatees special legal status has
symbolic importance, too, Lusk says. It
recognizes that these animals have
intrinsic value whether or not they are
endangered.

Heather Dewar is a writer-editor in the
Refuge System Branch of
Communications.